The Singer's Girl
by Lady MSM
Summary: A rather unconventional take on what happened with Maglor and his wife. I suck at summaries please read anyway!
1. A Dangerous Attraction

**The Singer's Girl**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this, except the stuff that you didn't see mentioned in the Silmarillion or anywhere else. Can't sue me! Ha ha!**_

_**Also, I know that this story is probably riddled with errors and clichés. Go easy on me, okay? I'm no Tolkien expert. Thanks, and enjoy!**_

**Chapter 1: A Dangerous Attraction **

Okay, I admit it. I was stupid. Really, there were several good reasons as to why I shouldn't have fallen in love with Maglor son of Feanor. These were as follows:

I'd never met him before. I'd barely even HEARD of him. I had no idea what he was like at ALL.

When I met him for the first time, his family was on exile from Tirion because his dad had threatened one of his relatives. That's a sure sign of trouble.

Any sensible girl would have known better than to get involved with one of the Sons of Feanor. It's just common sense.

Yes, these were all very good reasons, and I should have followed my own advice, but the fact of the matter is that I am not a sensible girl, and so when I met Maglor I fell for him immediately. Like I said, it was sort of stupid. I'm impulsive by nature, I guess.

I'll never forget that day when we first met. Back then, I lived in a forest up north (I'm sort of reclusive, plus I'd lived alone in a forest before I moved to Valinor and it was what I was used to), sort of near Formenos. Of course, back then I didn't know what Formenos was. I'm just using that as a reference point. So, anyway, I was living up north, when I received news that a family from Tirion had been exiled for some reason and were living nearby to me. When I say "received news" I mean that an animal told me. I can speak to animals, see. Should I have mentioned that?

When I heard about this, I didn't really give a crap at first. It wasn't like they were going to bother me at all. At least, I hoped not, since my privacy is extremely valuable to me. And I was right, because for the first seven years or so my life didn't change at all.

But soon, everything changed.

It was late summer, as I recall, and I had left my house (technically it wasn't a house, it was more of a shack, but I considered it my house) to gather some food for supper. I'd been walking for a few minutes when I heard a horse whinny, and then someone yelling.  
"You stupid freakin' horse! What the heck was THAT? Are you trying to kill me or something? I oughta…" Whoever it was lapsed into swearing. Being curious as to who was in my woods yelling at their horse, I went forward a few steps. What I saw, I was completely unprepared for.

The horse in question was white and medium-sized, with a very well-bred air about it. It also looked very annoyed. The person who was swearing at the horse was a young chap with long, wavy hair who also looked very annoyed. I couldn't see him very well, as he wasn't facing me.

"Excuse me," I said. "Why are you swearing at your horse?"

He turned around, and my breath caught in my throat. This guy was absolutely gorgeous. He had pale skin, fine, elegant features, and brilliant amber eyes that seemed to glow in the dim forest light. Oh, and he had amazing hair. I'd thought at first that it was plain dark brown, but on closer look it had some reddish highlights and nearly reached his waist. All in all, he was WAY hot.

"You'd swear at him too, if you were in my position," he said. Gods, he had a gorgeous voice.

"No, I wouldn't," I replied, my environmentalist nature getting the better of me. "Swearing at animals is not the way to get them to behave."

"There ISN'T a way to get this animal to behave. He absolutely hates me and I have no idea why."

"Hmm…" I thought for a moment. "I think I can figure it out." Walking up to the horse, I put my hands on my hips and switched into horse-language. "Hello."

The horse snorted. "Hello. Are YOU going to lecture me now?"

"I'm not going to lecture me, but my friend over there claims that you hate him and that he doesn't know why. DO you hate him? And if so, why? He seems like a good sort to me."

"Oh, of course he seems like a good sort to you. PEOPLE love him, for some reason. Personally, I can't stand him."

"Why?"

"He thinks he's better than me."

"Well, you can't really hold that against him. Lots of people think they're better than animals."

"Well, he certainly isn't better than ME. I come from a very good family. My mother was Nahar's sister!"

"Would you like me to tell him that?"

"Yes, I'd appreciate that very much. You're a good girl, Miss…what's your name?"

"Anduril."

"A pleasure. I'm Delroch."

I nodded and turned back to Delroch's owner, who had been watching us all this time with a slightly amused look on his face.

"So what's the verdict?" he asked.

"He says he thinks that you think that you're better than him, and that his mother was Nahar's sister so you most definitely are NOT better than him."

"Is THAT all?" he said, raising an eyebrow. "Sweet Cuivienen. I'd thought it was something much more complicated. Please give him my apologies. Arrogance sort of runs in my family, you see."

"He says he's sorry, and that arrogance sort of runs in his family," I told Delroch.

Delroch snorted. "I knew THAT. His father's a regular lunatic. Threatened his own half-brother, you know."

"Wait," I said frowning. "That was _his_ dad?"

"Of course. Haven't you heard about Feanor? I thought everyone had. Maglor here's his second son."

"Is that true?" I asked Maglor.

"Is what true?"

"Sorry, I forgot that you couldn't understand Horse. Is it true that you're Maglor son of Feanor?"

Maglor sighed. "I can't believe that I'm having this conversation already. Yes, I'm Maglor son of Feanor. Who are you?"

"Oh, gosh, I can't believe that I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Anduril, daughter of no one. Hi, nice to meet you."

"Well, your name certainly fits you," said Maglor. He was right, it did. Anduril means "Flame of the West," and since I have bright red hair, it describes me perfectly.

"Thanks, I guess."

"So I assume that you're not going to freak out because I'm a Son of Feanor?" asked Maglor, looking rather surprised.

"No. Why should I? I'd barely even heard of you until a short while ago. I barely even know anything about your family. Is it true that your dad threatened his half-brother?"

He sighed again. "Yeah. It was way stupid, I know. Sometimes I think that I must be adopted."

"Well, at least you HAVE a family. I've never had one."

"Why not, if I may be so bold as to ask?"

"I was one of the original Elves to wake up by Cuivienen. I'm not related to anyone."

"Cool." There was a brief pause.

"Excuse me, but I'm getting quite thirsty," said Delroch. "Can we get going, Maglor?"

"He says he's thirsty and asks if you can get going," I translated.

"Okay, we can go, Delroch," said Maglor. "Nice talking to you, Anduril."

"Yeah. Same here."

Maglor mounted Delroch and grinned at me before riding off. "Peace out!"

_Hmmm…he's smart, funny, and way cute, _I thought. _This could work!_

_**Author's Notes: First of all, yes, the main character's name is Anduril. And yes, that is the name of Aragorn's sword. I couldn't help it. The name just suited her.**_

_**Also, it said in The History of Middle Earth that Elves having red hair was uncommon, but it never said that no one but Nerdanel's relatives had it. I don't think. **_


	2. Love at Second Sight

**Chapter 2: Love at Second Sight**

I knew that he'd be back before long. Don't ask how I knew; I just did. Woman's intuition or something. Whatever the reason, when Maglor showed up again a week later I wasn't surprised at all.

"Hello, Anduril," he said, leaping off his horse.

"Hello," I replied. "How's your horse?"

"Well, I've been trying to be more polite to him, and I think it's working. You'll have to ask him yourself, though."

"Hello, Delroch," I said to the horse. "Has Maglor been polite to you?"

Delroch sniffed. "I suppose so. He's been trying, at least. That's worth something."

"Yeah, it is," I agreed. Turning to Maglor, I said, "He says you're improving, but that you've still got a ways to go."

"Great," muttered Maglor. "As if I haven't already got enough stress in my life, I have to worry about pleasing my horse. The Valar must hate me."

"What makes you say that?"

"Isn't it obvious? My dad's completely nuts, I haven't seen my mom in seven years, practically everyone in our extended family hates us, and I have six freakin' brothers to worry about!"

"You have six brothers?"

"Yep. Five of them younger than me."

"Wow." I thought about that for a moment. "You're right. The Valar must hate you."

Maglor smiled slightly. "Thanks. That makes me feel heaps better."

"So," I said, sitting down on a nearby stump. "Tell me about your brothers."

"Um, okay," said Maglor, sitting next to me. "Well, first of all, there's Maedhros, who's three years older than me and has reddish-brown hair like our mom. He's pretty cool, except that he's way impulsive and hardly ever thinks. Then there's Celegorm, who's three years younger than me and has blonde hair like Grandpa. He's a pain in the butt because he thinks he's hot as heck. Caranthir is two years younger than Celegorm and looks exactly like Dad, and he's one of those people who basically think that the world sucks and therefore they can be as much of a jerk as they like to everyone."

"A pessimist," I said.

Maglor shrugged. "You could call it that. We mostly prefer the term 'self-centered brat.' Anyway, where was I? Oh, yeah. Curufin is two years younger than Caranthir and both looks _and _acts exactly like Dad, meaning that he's, like, a mechanical genius and thinks he's better than everyone because of it. Then there's Amrod and Amras, the twins, who are four years younger than Curufin. They pretty much look like Mom, too. It's hard for most people to tell them apart at first, but after a while it's pretty obvious which one is which."

"Why is that?"

"Amras always talks in questions and Amrod doesn't," Maglor explained. "I have no idea why, but everything that boy says comes out as a question, like this? It's, like, really annoying sometimes? But it makes it easy for us to tell them apart?"

I giggled. "You've got a point there. So what's your dad like?"

"He's…pretty much indescribable," said Maglor. "Sometimes he's really cool, and then sometimes he loses his temper and is a total jerk. He totally hates both my half-uncles for no good reason, and it's always really ticked him off that Maedhros likes to hang out with our cousin Fingon." He sighed. "Of course, it's been tons worse since he made the Silmarils."

"What are the Silmarils?" I asked.

"Gods, I wish every day that I had to ask that question. They're these three jewels that contain the light of the Two Trees or something like that. I don't really care about them— I mean, they're okay and all, but they're just jewels. Everyone else thinks they're awesome, though. I remember when Dad first made them, and I didn't totally freak out like everyone else did, and later I overheard Dad saying to Maedhros that there was something wrong with me. He didn't think I heard, but I have freakishly good hearing." Maglor laughed bitterly and looked away.

"That's sort of a blow," I said. "I mean, that your dad would say that there's something wrong with you."

"It didn't really come as much of a surprise," said Maglor, turning back to me. "I've known he doesn't approve of me for years. You can't really blame him, I guess. After all, I can't use a sword, I can't do math, and I'm the worst smith west of Alqualonde. The only thing I'm really good at is singing, and Dad has no interest in that."

"What a JERK!" I said, and instantly regretted it.

Maglor gave me a funny look. "Thanks, Anduril."

"Why are you thanking me? I just called your dad a jerk."

"I've been wanting to say that for years, but I've never had the courage. You just did it for me." He grinned. "You've got guts, sister."

"Are you two done flirting yet?" snapped Delroch. "Yes, I know, the boy's father is insane. Everyone knows that. You don't have to discuss it for ten minutes!"

"Oh, hush," I said. "Just because everything you say is short and to the point doesn't mean that we should have to follow your example! We may not be better than you, but you're no better than us."

"Being disagreeable, is he?" asked Maglor knowingly. "That means it's time for me to go. See you soon, Anduril."

"See you soon."

As soon as he left I knew that I loved him.


	3. Standards of Beauty

**Chapter 3: Standards of Beauty**

Being in love has its downsides. For example, now that I was in love with Maglor, I began to worry about whether I was pretty or not. This was something I'd never really considered before. I hadn't met a lot of other people, so no one had ever told me if I was attractive.

After Maglor left, I spent about an hour staring at myself in the pool next to my shack, figuring out if I was pretty. I was fairly sure that I wasn't TOO plain— I have thick, wavy hair, which was quite nice if it was red, bluish-green eyes, and a few freckles on my nose. Later I realized that my looks were quite unusual for an Elf, but at the time I had no idea.

This called for an outside opinion. There was a fox named Maple who lived near my shack that I was rather fond of, so I decided to ask her.

"Maple," I said, "do you think I'm pretty?"

She crawled out of her burrow and inspected me. "For a person, you're not half bad."

"You don't think I'm too short, or anything?" Maglor had been quite tall, but I wasn't, not very. Maybe height added to your attractiveness?

Maple snorted. "You seem awfully big to me."

Asking the animals for advice had always worked before, but this time it wasn't doing me much good.

"Thanks, Maple. You're a good sort."

"You're welcome. Oh, and by the way, if you're worried about impressing that boy who's always hanging around here, don't worry. He doesn't seem like the sort who's too worried about looks."

I sighed with relief. Even if I wasn't pretty, Maple was probably right— Maglor didn't seem too worried about looks. He was better than that. Still, I needed to know if I could be considered attractive (these things get stuck in your head after a while).

This time it only took three days for Maglor to come again. It was none too soon, seeing as I'd been longing to see him ever since he'd left. It was getting to the point where I could hardly bear to be away from him at all.

And I'd only known him for ten days!

"Well, you're certainly coming here a lot," I said when he arrived. "What is it that you find so irresistible about this forest?"

Maglor laughed. "It's a lot quieter than what I'm used to."

"Not if you can understand animals," I replied. "Especially bats. They talk all night, and I can barely sleep. And they can't even say anything interesting! It's just gossip, gossip, gossip."

"Good morning, Anduril," said Delroch snootily. "I see that you've completely forgotten my existence again?"

"Good heavens, I'm sorry, Delroch!" I said. "I didn't notice you there. How are you?"

"Oh, don't mind me, I'm not important," sniffed the horse. "I'm just a useless old horse, whereas HE'S the greatest thing since the Two Trees. I knew this would happen eventually, of course. Maglor here can't walk twenty feet without some girl flirting with him. It's the same with that dreadful older brother of his, though what's so attractive about someone with two legs and no hair on their bodies I don't know."

"Delroch?" I said, as politely as I could. "Please shut up."

Delroch sniffed, but didn't say another word.

"He seems pleased to see you," reflected Maglor.

"That's what you think," I said grimly. "Maglor, I have a question for you."

"I have an answer, unless the question involves math."

"Do you think I'm pretty?"

He looked temporarily stunned. "Do I think you're _pretty_?"

"Yeah. I've been trying to figure it out for myself, but I don't really know what the standards for people are, and the animals aren't really much help."

"Hmm…" He looked me up and down. "Yes, you're quite pretty. You have very unusual hair."

"What do you mean, unusual?"

"Not a lot of people have red hair. Actually, I thought it was just my mom's family that did, but apparently I was wrong. And none of them have BRIGHT red hair like you."

I raised an eyebrow. "That was a compliment, right?"

"Sure thing."

There was a pause.

"How are your brothers?" I asked, having nothing better to say.

"They're fine, except Celegorm's dog Huan keeps drinking out of the loo and it's really annoying. That dog drives me nuts."  
"I didn't know that Celegorm had a dog."

"Yeah, I forgot to mention that. Huan's okay, except that he's the size of a small horse and has no sense of decency. I'm not that big of a fan of dogs, but Mom wouldn't get us a cat because she said they were 'unsanitary.' Like dogs aren't!"

"You've got a point there," I agreed. "And anyway, it's not really natural for animals to be sanitary."

"Exactly."

"_That dog_," said Delroch stiffly, "is the most disgusting, rude animal I have ever met! AND his owner HUNTS. Completely vulgar."

"Delroch said that your brother hunts. Is that true?" I said to Maglor.

"Unfortunately, yes. Most of my brothers do. I think it's silly that people would find it fun to go around killing things, but that's my family for you. Personally, I haven't eaten meat since I was nine."

"Cool!" I said. "I've never eaten meat in my life. Apparently animals don't like being eaten."

Maglor nodded. "That's what I figured. You should tell that to Celegorm sometime, it'd be hilarious. Say, do you know for how long I've been here? If it's past eleven I should be getting back."

I didn't want him to go, but by my calculations it was eleven-thirty and I told him so. Probably noticing how downcast I looked, Maglor grinned. "Hey, don't worry, sister. I'll be back soon. You're the best company I've had in ages."

"Um…Maglor?"

"Yeah?"

_Come on, Anduril!_ _Just tell him you love him!_

"Come back soon."

Dang. I'd have to tell him next time.


	4. Perfection

**Chapter 4: Perfection**

To my great distress, Maglor did not come back soon. It was a full nine days before I saw him again. During that time I was so stressed out that even Maple didn't want anything to do with me. Animals don't really get lovesick, I've noticed. What a lot they miss. But I swear, it was extremely distressing. I kept worrying that he'd gotten mad at me for some reason, or that something awful had happened.

When he finally showed up nine horrible days later, it was all I could do not to faint from relief.

"Where have you been?" I demanded. "I've been worried sick."

"Have you?" Maglor asked, grinning. "Excellent. That makes two people who actually give a crap about my well-being."

"Who's the other?"

"My mom. You'd like her; she's totally cool."

"Oh. So why didn't you come sooner? I thought maybe you'd been recalled to Tirion."

"Gods forbid! That would be a tragedy, wouldn't it?" laughed Maglor. "Actually, Delroch here hurt his ankle, so I figured that he'd be less furious with me if we didn't go anywhere for a while. Ask him if he's grateful towards me."

"Hey, Delroch," I said. "How's your ankle?"

"It's fine, thank you for asking," he replied. "I suppose I should be grateful towards Maglor for not dragging me here sooner, though he certainly wanted to. He was none too pleased with me for getting injured. As if it was my fault!"

"You mean…he _wanted_ to come and see me?" I said, delighted.

"Are you kidding? It's pretty much all the boy thinks about these days. I'm surprised those brothers of his don't start to suspect something, though of course none of them care about anything other than themselves. A more self-centered bunch I've never met!"

"What'd he say?" asked Maglor.

Turning quickly, I smiled. "He's grateful." As an afterthought, I added, "He also thinks that your brothers are the most self-centered bunch he's ever met."

"An acute observation," said Maglor. "It comes from my dad's side of the family."

"I don't think I'd get on very well with your dad," I remarked.

"Oh, I think you might. Didn't you say you can talk to animals?"

We looked at each other for a few seconds, and then burst into laughter. Delroch rolled his eyes but said nothing.

"Hey, Maglor?" I said when we finally stopped laughing.

"What's up?"

"I love you."

He stared at me, and a smile spread across his face. "So what happens now?"

I shrugged. "Dunno. This, I guess." I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him.

"I love you, Anduril," said Maglor when we pulled apart.

"I KNEW this would happen sooner or later!" complained Delroch.


	5. Meeting the Guys

**Chapter 5: Meeting the Guys**

"You should come over for dinner tomorrow night," said Maglor. It had now been a month since we'd become a "couple," of sorts, and apparently Maglor had gotten sick of sitting around in a forest talking.

"Are you sure?" I said. "What would your family say? I mean, they haven't had any sort of preparation for this."

Maglor snorted. "You think they can't handle surprises? Besides, I'm pretty sure that they're wondering why I've been disappearing so often. This would be a good chance to explain."

"And I'm assuming that you also want to give them a good scare?"

"You know me so well it's scary," Maglor laughed. "Yeah, I think they need a shock. I haven't done anything unpredictable in years, so I think it'd be fun to see their reaction."

"Ooh, I can't wait to see the look on Feanor's face," said Delroch wickedly. "I've never liked that one, I can tell you that. Always thinking he knows better than everyone else!"

"Delroch just said that he doesn't like your father," I told Maglor.

"Why does that not surprise me?" sighed Maglor. "Anyway, it's time for me to be off. See you tomorrow. I'll pick you up at seven." He kissed me, mounted Delroch, and rode of, leaving me to worry.

"Hey, Maple?" I said. "What should I do if the guy I'm in love with wants me to meet his family, but I happen to know that his dad's a nut and his brothers are all self-centered jerks?"

"Stop asking me all these questions!" snapped the fox. "For heaven's sakes, girl, you used to have SENSIBLE problems! Now I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about half the time! You people, I swear." She sniffed and retreated into her burrow. It occurred to me that most animals sound exactly alike when they're mad.

The next day, as promised, Maglor showed up at 7:00. I climbed onto Delroch behind him (Delroch did not look pleased about having to carry two people) and we rode out of the forest. I hadn't been out of the forest since I got in it, and therefore didn't recognize any of the terrain.

"Where are we going?" I said.

"Formenos."

"What's that?"

"It's where my family lives. Sweet Cuivienen, girl, how many questions are you going to ask me?"

"Sorry, Sir."

"Oh, hush. It'll be about five minutes until we get there."

"Gosh, we don't live too far apart, do we."

"Nope. Sure makes it convenient."

Having run out of interesting things to say, we shut up for the rest of the journey. The land around here really was quite pretty, I reflected. Maybe I should get out of the forest more. It certainly couldn't hurt, if I didn't get lost…

"We're here!" said Maglor brightly. He lifted me off of the horse. "Welcome to Formenos."

Formenos was a largish stone building that looked like it had been built in a hurry and would fall over if it was struck by lightning. Still, it was the fanciest place I'd ever seen, especially as I hadn't seen many buildings.

"Nice house," I commented.

"It's not as nice as our house back in Tirion, but it's okay," said Maglor. He sounded somewhat bitter. "C'mon, let's go in and freak out my dad."

We went in.

A normal person probably wouldn't think the inside of Formenos very impressive, but I thought it incredibly grand. It was lit by actual CANDLES, instead of torches like I used, and there were RUGS on the floors, which were made of WOOD. To a primitive girl like me, it was freakin' amazing.

"Hello, Maglor," said a cool male voice. "You're ten minutes late. And who is _this_?"

I stopped staring around and looked back at the space in front of me. A fierce-looking guy with straight black hair and catlike amber eyes glared at Maglor and I.

"Oh, hey, Dad," said Maglor. "This is my girlfriend, Anduril. Anduril, this is my dad, Feanor."

So this was Maglor's infamous dad? Hmm, he didn't look so evil. Intimidating, maybe, but not evil.

"Hey," I said, as politely as I could.

"HOLD IT!" yelled another voice. A tall, copper-haired guy who looked a little older than Maglor vaulted over the back of the couch and landed in front of us. "YOU have a GIRLFRIEND? And when exactly did THIS happen?"

Ah, this must be Maedhros. Maglor had told me that his inability to get a girlfriend was the bane of his older brother's life.

"A month ago," I said. "You're Maedhros, right?"

"Yeah, I'm Maedhros. WHEN were you planning on telling me this, Maglor?"

"Sheesh, dude, calm down," said Maglor, with the air of one who dealt with this stuff all the time. "You always overreact. What is the big deal?"

"The big deal is that you're three years younger than me and yet you got a girlfriend before I did! AND you didn't even tell me!"

"Gee, all this makes ME feel great," I muttered sarcastically.

"Sorry, honey, this isn't your fault," said Maedhros, with a charming grin. "It's just that your boyfriend here is an annoying twerp who deserves to be slapped."

"Don't call me 'honey.' And my boyfriend is perfectly fine, thanks."

"What is everyone yelling about?" Another guy, this one with short blond hair, entered the room. His eyes widened when he saw me. "Whoa. Who's SHE?"

"I'm Anduril, and I'd prefer it if you didn't talk about me as if I was deaf." If this was what ALL of Maglor's brothers were like, then I was not looking forward to meeting the rest.

The blond guy tossed his hair. "Sorry. We're just not real used to girls around here." He held out one hand, and I shook it. "Celegorm."

"Nice to meet you. Like I said, I'm Anduril, and I'm Maglor's girlfriend."

"Dude! You have a girlfriend?" exclaimed Celegorm. "I am exceedingly jealous. When did this happen?"

"A month ago," said Maglor. "And I'm extremely glad that you didn't react the way Maedhros did. He nearly killed me."

"It's not uncommon for Maedhros to get mad," said yet another voice, this one coming from closer to the floor. Looking to Celegorm's left, I noticed for the first time a large, shaggy grey dog. So this was Huan. I bent down to talk to him.

"Hey there," I said. "Are you Huan?"

"Yes, I am, and please explain something to me. How'd a nice girl like you end up with a rascal like Maglor there?"

"He's not a rascal!" I said indignantly. "At least not as far as I can tell."

"I'm just joking. He's a good lad. But still, I hope you don't mind that he can't go twenty feet without some girl flirting with him."

"That's what Delroch said."

Huan rolled his eyes. "Don't talk to me about Delroch! That horse is nothing but trouble. He steps on my feet all the time. Don't tell him I said that."

"Maglor," said Celegorm, "when were you going to tell us that your girlfriend can talk to animals?"

"I thought that it'd be obvious," said Maglor. "Seeing as she's been talking to your precious dog for the past six minutes. Honestly, can you expect me to tell you EVERYTHING? How old are you, seven?"

"What's going on?" said a cute guy with copper hair like Maedhros', sticking his head in the door. "Amrod and I were, like, outside? And we heard everyone yelling? And we were like, 'What's HAPPENING in there?'"

Amras, apparently, judging from all the questions.

"Maglor got a girlfriend, and we were all yelling at him for not telling us earlier," explained Maedhros.

"Oh, big surprise?" said Amras. "Like we weren't expecting that to happen pretty soon anyway? But actually, Maedhros, I'm kind of surprised that you didn't get a girlfriend first? Since you're the oldest, and supposedly the most attractive, and all that?"

"Please, don't remind me," said Maedhros, groaning.

"Amras, please go get the others. It's almost time for dinner," said Feanor, who had been watching everything with a slight smile.

"Yes, sir?" said Amras, before slipping back outside.

"Funny," I said to Maglor. "I would have thought it was impossible to turn that into a question."

"Don't underestimate Amras," said Maglor. "He's an expert at that sort of thing."

"You must be so proud," I told Feanor.

Feanor laughed. "I like this girl already. Everyone, go and sit down."

Everyone went and sat down.

As I took a seat next to Maglor, I noticed several people sitting around the table that I hadn't noticed before. Probably the rest of his brothers. Just to see how sharp I was, I tried to figure out who each of them were.

The copper-haired Elf sitting next to Amras was obviously Amrod. Maglor had been right— they did look almost exactly alike. Still, I could somehow tell which one was which.

They guy with wavy black hair and soot all over his clothes was probably Curufin, the one who took after Feanor. He was talking to another guy with straight hair and a distinctive tan, who didn't look like he was really listening. This had to be Caranthir. Maglor had told me that all he cared about was himself.

Which left the older-looking blond Elf sitting next to Feanor. Let's see, who was he? Obviously a relative, as he looked a lot like Celegorm, but Maglor only had six brothers (if you can call six brothers "only").

"And who is this charming young lady?" the guy whose name I didn't know asked.

"Oh, sorry, Grandpa, I should've introduced her," said Maglor. "This is my girlfriend, Anduril. Anduril, this is my Grandpa Finwe, High King of the Noldor."

Well. That solved it.

"Hello, Sir," I said. "Sorry if this is sort of unexpected."

"Don't worry about it, dear girl. You young people are full of surprises. I remember how shocked I was when Feanor here announced he was going to marry a poor Northern blacksmith's daughter."

"Dad, _please_," muttered Feanor, looking decidedly uncomfortable

"Yo!" said Caranthir suddenly, sitting up. "Maglor has a GIRLFRIEND?"

"No duh, Caranthir," said Curufin. "Amras told us all that. You weren't listening?"

"And they say I'M the absentminded one?" Maglor said to me.

"I heard that, harp boy," said Caranthir.

"Bite me."

"Go to Mandos."

"What interesting conversations you have here!" I said brightly. "This was definitely worth the trip."

There was silence—it seems that I'd given them quite a shock. Most people probably wouldn't call throwing insults back and forth "interesting conversation," but I quite honestly did! I thought it was hilarious.

After a few minutes of silence, Amrod laughed.

"I like this girlfriend of yours, Maglor old boy."


	6. That's a Tragedy

**Chapter 6: That's a Tragedy**

After it had been established that the House of Feanor liked me, I was accepted as a member of the family. In fact, Maglor's brothers started treating me like another guy (except Maedhros, who still frequently gave me the evil eye and called me "Maglor's girlfriend" instead of "Anduril"). Feanor, who, it turned out, was really cool around people he liked, treated me like a daughter. Everything was perfect.

It didn't last, of course.

Maglor had told me that his family was only staying up north for twelve years, but I'd sort of forgotten about that. Therefore it came as a bit of a surprise when I was informed that the twelve years were up and that Feanor was heading back to Tirion to sort things out with the Valar.

"But don't worry," Maglor reassured me. "The rest of us won't be going back for quite some time. We've got to make sure everything's sorted out up here before we leave."

"What about me?" I asked. "I'll be left alone up here. What am I supposed to do?"

"You could come to Tirion with us. It wouldn't be what you're used to, but I think you'd like it pretty well."

That was an interesting possibility. On one hand, I'd miss my forest and the various animals therein, but on the other hand, I'd be able to stay with Maglor, and I'd be somewhere new.

"Just think about it," said Maglor. "You've got plenty of time to decide."

I promised I'd think about it, and headed back home.

Three days later, at about 8:00 at night, a very frightened-looking Maglor showed up at my shack. Before I could say anything, he jumped off of Delroch and threw his arms around me. "Thank the Gods you're all right!"

"Um…thanks," I said. "Why should I not be all right?"

"Long story," said Maglor. "I think you'd better sit down."

Being eager to hear what on earth had happened, I sat down. Maglor sat next to me and took a deep breath.

"Okay, so you know how my dad left for Tirion a couple days ago?"

"Uh-huh."

"And you remember how I told you about those Silmaril jewels that my dad made?"

"Yep."

"And you've heard of the Dark Lord Melkor?"

"Everyone has."

"Well, the upshot of it is, not six hours ago, the Dark Lord Melkor broke into Formenos, killed my grandfather, and stole the Silmarils. You can understand why I was worried about you."

"Sweet Cuivienen!" I said. "That's AWFUL!"

"You said it." He shuddered. "I hate to imagine Dad's reaction. He'll go ballistic."

"I believe you," I said. "Do you think he'll be more upset about your grandfather or the Silmarils?"

Maglor smiled weakly. "Quite honestly? I think he'll be more upset about the Silmarils. Sad, isn't it?"

"Well, you know what they say. We live in a material world."

"I guess so." He stood up and yawned. "I'd better get going or they'll be wondering where I am."

"By now, shouldn't they be able to guess?"

"You'd think so, but no," replied Maglor. He kissed me on the cheek, mounted Delroch, and left.

"Maple," I said to the fox, who had just crawled out of her burrow, "the world is not a safe place anymore."

"I'll say!" she said empathetically.

I stopped by Maglor's house the next day, just to see how things were. As I discovered, things were very gloomy. The house was a mess, the door was smashed, and the entire place was eerily silent.

"Well, there's no other solution," Maedhros was saying as I entered. "We've got to go back to Tirion. It's not safe to stay here. I mean, look around. Everything's completely dark!"

"I'm not looking forward to telling Anduril this," said Maglor.

"You don't have to tell me; I'm here," I said. "And don't worry, I'm not staying here either. I'm coming with you guys to Tirion."

"Yes!" whooped Celegorm, punching the air. When we all stared at him, he shrugged. "What? I like the girl. She's funny. And Huan agrees."

"Do you?" I asked Huan, who, I had discovered, could usually understand what people were saying.

"Yes, I'm quite fond of you," said Huan. "There aren't a lot of people around here who I can have an intelligent conversation with. Shall we get back to planning? Good. Tell Maedhros to continue."

"Huan says to continue," I said to Maedhros.

"Great, now I'm taking orders from a dog," muttered Maedhros. "Okay, everyone, we may as well pack up. Get to it, dudes!"

Two hours later everyone was ready to leave (I had been ready the entire time, since the only thing I really owned was my blue dress, and I was wearing that). Maglor squeezed my hand, and I smiled nervously at him. Here went nothing.


	7. Glass Half Full

**Chapter 7: Glass Half Full**

May I be somewhat blunt?

Bluntly, I would have to say that Tirion was extremely frightening. At least, it was to me, as I'd never seen a city before. Yeah, it was beautiful, even in the cloud of darkness that was hovering over everything. But still frightening.

I came to this conclusion while the eight of us were standing outside the city gates, waiting for someone to let us in. Actually, our horses were standing, and we were sitting on them. Same difference. Maglor, unlike me, didn't appear frightened at all— rather, he looked incredibly pleased.

"Gods, I've missed this place," he said quietly.

"It's lovely," I agreed. I didn't tell him how intimidating it was to me, since I figured that he might not appreciate such a comment.

"Yep. Good old Tirion," said Maedhros. "For heaven's sakes, why won't anyone open these effin' gates?" As if to punctuate the remark, he banged on the gates.

"Be patient, lad," said a voice from inside the gate. Peering forward, I could see someone approach the gates from the inside. "Now, who are you?"

"We're the Sons of Feanor, genius," snapped Caranthir. "Can you just let us in? We've been waiting outside here for fifteen minutes and I'm dang sick of it."

"Be polite, Caranthir," said Maglor reproachfully.

"Well, I suppose I'd better let you in, though I don't know how pleased the Valar will be to see you," said the person. The gates swung open, and we rode into an eerily quiet city. I'd always figured that a city would be a crowded, loud place, but there was no one in sight.

"Dude," I heard Curufin say. "I never thought I'd see the day when this city was silent."

"I totally know what you mean?" said Amras. "Last time we were here, the noise was, like, deafening? And look at it now?"

"Probably everyone's afraid to leave their houses," said Maedhros. "Look at this place; it's a disaster area."

"So what do we do now?" I asked.

"Well, we're going to go figure out what happened here and then look for Dad," Maedhros said decisively. "You can come with us if you want, though it might be sort of tiring."

I took this to mean "I'd rather not have you with us, as you wouldn't be of much use, and anyway you wouldn't think it much fun," so I just shook my head and said that I didn't mind staying behind.

"Mind if we drop you off with Mom?" said Maglor. "I'm sure she wouldn't care. Besides, we might be gone for a while, and you need somewhere safe to stay." That was sweet of him, to look out for me like that. Who said the Sons of Feanor were self-centered jerks?

Nerdanel, as it turned out, was a very friendly copper-haired lady with green eyes and a strong Northeastern accent.

"Sure and ye've got a girlfriend!" she cried when Maglor introduced me. "I always did know ye'd find yerself a nice young lady eventually. Do come in, Anduril me dear. Are ye sure that ye can't stay for a while, Maglor?"

"Sorry, Mom, but I've got to get going," said Maglor, smiling. "Take care of Anduril, will you?"

"That I will, don't ye worry." She looked at me kindly. "I suppose ye'll be wanting something to eat, then?"

I nodded and followed her inside. When I glanced back over my shoulder, Maglor had left.

Twenty minutes later, I could see why Maglor spoke so highly of his mom. She was smart, sensible, and a truly excellent cook. Besides, she didn't seem to disapprove of my lack of sophistication at all (I had been worried that people in Tirion would all think they were better than me, just because they happened not to have lived in a forest all their lives).

"Sure and I haven't got any right to be judging people," said Nerdanel when I told her this. "When I first arrived in this city I thought people would be thinking that I was crude and countrified. Because of me accent, ye know."

"I like your accent," I said honestly.

"Oh, and yer a very polite girl, I must say. Maglor did be making a good choice in ye. Of course, he always was the most sensible of me sons. I get so worried about his brothers, though…they're as impulsive as their father." She frowned when she mentioned Feanor— I got the idea that she didn't really approve of him.

"I thought the others were very nice," I said.

Nerdanel chuckled. "Well, sure and they'll be nice to ye. Yer a girl, after all. And I won't say but that me boys were raised to be polite to girls. Maedhros, now, he was the charming one! Half the girls in Tirion were after him, ye know."

"That's funny," I remarked. "He was always complaining about how he couldn't get a girlfriend."

"He always did be exaggerating things. I've not a doubt that he could've gotten married if he'd had a mind to. But of course he couldn't be sticking with one girl for very long. Maedhros had the shortest attention span of any of them."

I grinned. "You've definitely got a point there."

Sitting there in the kitchen talking with Nerdanel, a feeling of calm settled on me. I had absolutely nothing to worry about. Sure, Melkor was on the loose and the Silmarils had been stolen, but that would be sorted out eventually. Everything was fine.

Late that evening, there came a knock at the door. Opening it, Nerdanel and I saw that it was Maedhros, closely followed by the rest of his brothers.

"Uh…Mom?" he said. "I'm afraid I have some bad news."

_(Author's note: I have no idea why I gave Nerdanel that accent. It's supposed to sound sort of Irish, I guess, and I got the idea from "Pat of Silver Bush" by LM Montgomery. Sorry if you hate it)_


	8. Big Girls Don't Cry

**Chapter 8: Big Girls Don't Cry**

"But I thought you said that you didn't care about the Silmarils!" I said, too stunned to say anything intelligent.

Maglor sighed and ran a hand through his beautiful hair. "I DON'T, Anduril. That's not why I swore the Oath. I swore it because…well, you know how protective I am of my brothers. They'll need me."

We were sitting in the living room during this conversation, and Huan was sleeping on my feet, so I couldn't feel them anymore. I didn't care. All I could think about was that Maglor was leaving.

"_I _need you!" I cried. "What if I never see you again?"

"Oh, come on, Anduril. I'm sure it won't be forever. Besides, if you're so worried, why don't you come with us?"

I shook my head. "You know I can't do that, Maglor. I just CAN'T. I'd never be able to stand Middle-Earth. Please understand!"

Maglor hugged me. "I understand. Don't worry about me. I'll be all right, I promise."

It was a stupid promise to make, since you never know if you'll be all right or not. But I believed him. I had to.

A week later Maglor and his father and brothers left for Middle-Earth. It was definitely the hardest experience of my life. Maglor had told me not to cry, or he'd start crying too and there'd be a scene, which wouldn't be good. So I didn't, but it was extremely difficult.

We said goodbye at 5:00 in the morning at the city limits. There wasn't a whole lot of time— we only had about 5 minutes— but we crammed a LOT into those 5 minutes.

"Remember, it won't be forever," whispered Maglor. "I'll be back."

I sniffed and buried my face in his shoulder. "I know. Try to get your brothers to see sense, okay?"

"No problem. Take care of Mom until we return. She'll need company."

"No problem."

"Hey, Anduril?"

"Yeah?"

"Next time we see each other…do you want to get married?"

I looked at him in shock. "You mean it?"

"Sure thing.'

"Okay, then. I will." Blinking back tears, I hugged him even harder. "I'll love you forever, Maglor."

"I hope so, Anduril," he said heavily. "I hope so." We kissed, and by the time we were finished the five minutes were up.

"Peace out," Maglor whispered, and ran to join his family.

So that was that. I was engaged, and my fiancé was off on a quest from which he might never return. Joy.

For the first time in a long time, I let myself cry.


	9. Gossip

**Chapter 9: Gossip**

After that, I lived at Feanor's old house in Tirion. Nerdanel came and stayed with me, which was kind of her, as for the first few weeks I was too depressed to do much of anything. I believe I lost about twenty pounds in a month. Quite honestly, I was miserable.

The months went by, and still no news came of what was going on in Middle-Earth. We poor schmucks in Valinor were completely cut off. A lot of people were pleased about this. "Why should we care about a bunch of rebels?" they muttered. "They're none of our affair! Let them get themselves killed!" I couldn't STAND people who talked this way. Whenever I heard someone bad-mouthing the Sons of Feanor, I'd scowl fiercely at them, which got me some pretty strange looks.

As time passed, people started giving me pretty strange looks all the time. More than once I heard the words "she's MAGLOR'S girl" whispered by people I passed on the street. I had become a target for the city gossips.

"Sure and don't ye worry about it, love," said Nerdanel wisely. "Those gossips have got to be having something to talk about. It'll be over in a few days, ye'll see."

I wish she had been right, I really do. But my story was the juiciest one that Tirion had come across in years, and they weren't going to let go of it easily. There were some pretty vicious rumors floating around, I can tell you that. While I never showed anything but cool indifference towards everyone else, inside I was seething.

It was after an incident with a girl named Marvana that I finally snapped.

Marvana was one of those girls who have everything— money, friends, charisma, and good looks. She had wavy black hair, long-lashed blue eyes, and the tall, slim figure that was so stylish then— practically my opposite. I didn't really know her, but we'd spoken a couple times, and I got the feeling that she hated me (rumor had it that she'd had a bit of a thing for Maglor back in the old days). I ran into her at the market twelve years after the Exile.

"Oh, hel-_lo_, Anduril darling," she said, smiling sweetly.

"Hello, Marvana," I said, not returning her smile.

"How's Lady Nerdanel?"

"She could be worse. Is there something important you wanted to talk about? Because if not, I've got errands to run."

"In fact there is. Anduril, darling, I've been hearing some simply AWFUL gossip about you."

"HAVE you now," I said evenly. "That's interesting."

"You're so calm. I envy that so much. Still, I just want you to know that _I _think you did the right thing."

"What right thing?"

She looked surprised. "Why, breaking up with Maglor, of course. I'd never have been able to."

I snapped.

"Now, let's get something straight, Miss Marvana," I hissed. "I did not break up with Maglor, nor did he break up with me. Just because he's not here doesn't mean he doesn't love me!"

"Well, there's no need to get mad, darling," said Marvana. "You have to admit, it was a bit mean of him to leave you behind like that. He didn't even have the courage to ask you to marry him!"

I laughed, almost triumphantly. "That's where you're wrong! He did, just before he left. I've been engaged for twelve years."

A look of pure fury came over Marvana's pretty face. She spun on her heel and stomped away, leaving me feeling somewhat electrified.

After that, Marvana couldn't pass me on the street without saying something mean. I didn't really care. Nothing she said mattered to me. Realizing this, the city gossips talked about me less, until my sad story was only told in whispers behind closed doors. Well, at least Nerdanel had been right eventually.


	10. Word from MiddleEarth

**Chapter 10: Word from Middle-Earth**

Nerdanel cried out in delight and dropped the letter she was reading onto her lap. "Anduril! Sure and ye'll never guess what's happened!"

"What? What?" I said hurriedly, grabbing the parchment and scanning it.

"Me great-niece Idril and her husband have returned to Valinor. Perhaps they'll be bringing news."

I gasped. "Do you think so?"

"Well, they couldn't have been living in Middle-Earth all this time and not know what's been going on, now could they?

It was now nearly six hundred years since the Noldor had left Valinor. I'd shaken off my deep depression, but still found it hard to be truly happy about anything. Now, however, I was. If Nerdanel's great-niece was coming back, she could maybe tell me how Maglor was!

"Will she be dropping by here?" I asked.

"That she will, love. She said right here in this letter that she and her husband would be coming over for tea sometime."

I giggled. "It seems weird to think of Idril being married. She was just a little kid when she left."

"Aye, that it does." Nerdanel smiled. "Now go up and wash yer hair. I'll get us some dinner."

Idril and her husband Tuor— a tall, athletic human chap with messy blond hair— showed up at our door six days later. I rather liked Tuor. He wasn't sophisticated and didn't speak Quenya too well, but he was polite and funny, and had a nice laugh.

It was interesting to see how much Idril had changed. Last time I'd seen her, she'd been a pretty young girl of six, and now she was a remarkably attractive, charming woman. I found myself wishing to trade places with her. What wouldn't I give to be young and happily married!

"So tell yer old aunt, me dear," said Nerdanel, when we were all seated down to tea. "Any news of me sons and husband?"

Idril bit her lip. "Oh, gosh. I'm not really sure how to tell you this, but…Feanor got killed by one of Morgoth's servants not long after the Noldor landed in Middle-Earth. I'm really sorry."

Nerdanel let out a small gasp. I patted her hand sympathetically. She'd never talked about Feanor if she could help it, but I got the feeling that she still sort of missed him. After all, she'd had seven sons with the guy. Who could blame her?

"And…the others?" I asked nervously.

"Celegorm, Caranthir, and Curufin were killed in an attack on the kingdom of Doriath," said Idril matter-of-factly. "Apparently the king had one of the Silmarils, though exactly how he got it I can't recall at the moment. Anyway, his daughter escaped with it, so the whole battle was pretty futile. I'm so, so sorry, Nerdanel. Are you all right?"

"I'll be fine," said Nerdanel, her voice sounding shaky.

"What about Maglor?" I said, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"As far as we know, he and the other Sons of Feanor are still alive," said Idril. "but remember, we haven't been in Middle-Earth for some time."

I sighed with relief, and turned to comfort Nerdanel, who looked to be on the verge of tears.

And that was the last we heard for quite some time.


	11. Don't you Know There's a War On?

**Chapter 11: Don't You Know There's a War On?**

When I say "Quite some time," I actually mean about twenty-six years. That doesn't seem like a very long time to Elves, usually, but it seemed like ages to me. I have no idea why. For whatever reason, though, twenty-six long years passed before the next event of major importance happened.

It was Anaire who gave us the news, which wasn't too surprising. Anaire was Nerdanel's half-sister-in-law, and she prided herself on being the first one to know about _everything_. Practically nothing that happened in Tirion got by her.

"Nerdanel, you've simply GOT to hear this," she breathlessly said when she showed up at our door uninvited. "Can I come in? Thanks."

"More bad news?" I said as Anaire made herself at home in the kitchen.

"Heavens, no, child. This news is quite good." She yawned. "Excuse me; I'm quite tired after this last week." We'd had a festival in Valimar recently, and no one had gotten much sleep. I went with Nerdanel, but didn't have much fun.

"Well, what is it?" said Nerdanel. "Sure and don't keep us waiting like this, Anaire. Me poor nerves can't take much suspense."

"You remember how Idril told us about her son Earendil?" said Anaire, obviously enjoying the attention. "_Well_, somehow he ended up with the Silmaril that his wife's family had stolen from Morgoth, and _now _he's come to Valinor to ask the Valar to help the Elves in Middle-Earth!"

"Any news of Maglor?" I asked.

"Is that _all _you think about, Anduril? No, I haven't heard anything about him. Take my advice, dear, and move on. You're not young anymore, you know—" (this said in a syrupy sympathetic tone) "—but you're still very pretty, and there are lots of nice gentlemen in Tirion who'd be pleased to marry you."

I stuck my nose in the air. "I can never love anyone but Maglor, and you know it, Anaire."

"But he may never come back, you know," Anaire replied gently.

"That's a chance I'm willing to take," I said.

Anaire shook her head. "You're loyal; I'll say that for you. Well, I'd best be off. Things to do, you know." She pushed herself out of the armchair and departed, leaving Nerdanel and I to consider these new developments.

"Do you really think the Valar are going to do anything?" I asked.

"How should I be knowing what the Valar will do?" said Nerdanel. "Perhaps they will and perhaps they won't. Whatever they do, it'll probably be for the best." I detected a trace of sarcasm in her voice. The Valar's decisions had had a lot of effect on Nerdanel in the past.

"Most likely they won't do anything," I said, shaking my head. "It'll be too dangerous."

"I suppose we'll just have to be waiting it out," said Nerdanel.

Within three weeks it was decided: The Valar were going to war. This time, Anaire didn't have to tell us about it. Practically everyone in Valinor knew as soon as it was decided.

"Sure and I never did believe that they'd actually do it," said an awed-sounding Nerdanel.

"This will be WONDERFUL!" I cried. "I mean, as a rule I don't approve of war, but maybe…maybe if they win then your sons will come home."

"Oh, I hope so," sighed Nerdanel. "Not a day goes by when I'm not missing them. And I suppose ye'll be marrying Maglor then, Anduril?"

"Of course!" I said. "Unless he doesn't want to anymore…"

"Don't ye be worrying about that. Maglor's crazy about ye and he always will be. I know him well enough to be sure of THAT."

We spent the days before the army left for Middle-Earth optimistically hoping and planning, not even considering the possibility that we might lose the war. What, me worry?


	12. The Bearer of More Bad News

**Chapter 12: The Bearer of More Bad News**

We won the war.

Not that we weren't expecting that, of course. The Valar were obviously going to defeat Morgoth. The forces of good _always_ won. What Nerdanel and I were surprised about was that we didn't hear anything at all about the Sons of Feanor. I was almost crazy with fear— fear of hearing nothing, and fear of hearing something awful. Nerdanel, level-headed as usual, never showed outright fear, but I could tell that she was just as nervous as me.

Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately), this period of worry didn't last long.

"My ladies," said the messenger, a skinny Vanyarin boy. "I have news that…may be of some interest to you. May I come in?"

Nerdanel and I looked at each other uncomfortably. News from Middle-Earth wasn't a good thing, in our experience. Finally Nerdanel nodded. "Of course," she said. "Do come in."

"Thank you." The messenger came in and sat down in the living room.

"Well?" I said, rather sharply. "What's your message?"

"When the army came back from Middle-Earth, they brought back much news of what had happened there— including what happened to the House of Feanor." The boy stared at his lap. "First of all, Lady Nerdanel, I'm sorry to say that your sons Amrod and Amras were killed in the attack on the Havens of Sirion."

"That's DREADFUL!" I exclaimed, speaking for Nerdanel, who appeared to have gone mute. It was dreadful, too. I'd been quite fond of the twins, if they were a bit annoying. I could only imagine how awful this must have been to Maglor, as they were the ones he considered his particular charges.

"I agree with you, if you'll pardon me for saying so, my lady. But I'm afraid that's not the only bad news."

Nerdanel groaned. "We'd best be hearing it, then. Let's get this over with."

"Yes, my lady," said the boy, swallowing. "Well, after the Valar regained the Silmarils, your remaining sons, Maglor and Maedhros, decided to steal the jewels from them." He breathed in and quickly continued, like he wanted to get it all out as soon as possible. "They were successful. Unfortunately, since Varda hallowed the Silmarils so that no one even slightly evil could touch them, they caused your sons great pain."

_Don't say it don't say it don't say it_, I thought.

"The anguish for Lord Maedhros was so great that he jumped off a cliff, taking the Silmaril with him."

Nerdanel burst into tears. I could understand why— actually, I felt sort of like crying myself. Maedhros was annoying, but I'd liked him. Six of the seven Sons of Feanor were dead. I was scared to hear what had happened to the seventh.

But I had to know.

"And what about my fiancé?" I asked. "What happened to Maglor?" _Please, don't be dead. _

"He threw the Silmaril into the Sea and wandered off. We don't know where he is now."

I stared at him, and Nerdanel abruptly stopped crying. "Ye mean…me boy's still alive?" she said in a quavering voice.

"Most likely, yes."

"Thank you," I said. "You may go now." The messenger nodded, got up, and ran out the door, probably relieved to get away from us. I got up as well, and went upstairs. There was no question in my mind about what I had to do.


	13. Self Imposed Exile

**Chapter 13: Self-Imposed Exile**

I ran to my room and started packing. After all, I had a long journey ahead of me. Downstairs I knew that Nerdanel was still crying, and I regretted that I couldn't be there to help her, but I had more pressing concerns. If I packed quickly, I could be out of Valinor before nightfall.

"Anduril?" said a voice from my doorway. It was Nerdanel. "Whatever are ye doing?"

I stood up and faced her. "I'm going to Middle-Earth."

"Middle-Earth?" she said, looking confused. "Sure and why would ye want to be going there, love?"

"I can't take this place any longer. I'm going to find Maglor."

"But…don't ye think that's a bit unwise? Not that I'm trying to discourage ye, but Middle-Earth's dangerous territory, and ye haven't been there in centuries. It'll be dangerous."

"I don't care." Suddenly I seemed to have become very determined.

"Anduril, Valinor is yer home!"

"No, it's not," I said firmly. "Nerdanel, you've been like a mother to me, and I'll always be grateful to you. But this isn't my home. The only reason I live here is because Maglor told me to wait for him, and I'm sick of waiting. I'm sick of being lonely; I'm sick of being sad, and I'm SICK of gossip!"

"Ye may never find him," said Nerdanel sorrowfully.

"At least I'll know I tried," I replied. "Nerdanel, haven't you ever been so in love with someone that you'd do anything for them, even if it means following them to the ends of the earth?"

She stared at the ground. "Yes."

"Then you understand why I've got to do this." I put a hand on her shoulder. "I'll miss you, Nerdanel."

"I'll miss ye, too," Nerdanel said, looking at me with tears in her eyes. "Good luck, Anduril."

"Goodbye," I said.

And with that, I was gone.

I'd heard that there was one last ship heading to Middle-Earth, to pick up any Elves who were planning on coming back to Valinor. That ship was going to be my ticket out of there, so I hitched a ride to Alqualonde on some guy's cart. Not surprisingly, I was the only one on board the ship who wasn't a member of the crew, which got me a few funny looks. I didn't care— by this point I was used to getting funny looks.

We left the harbor at about 6:00 in the evening, just as the sun was starting to set. I sighed as I looked back towards Valinor. It hadn't been the greatest place, at least not while I was there without Maglor, but I'd still miss it. Hopefully Nerdanel would be all right on her own.

"Miss?" said someone. I turned around and saw the ship's young captain (whose name I couldn't remember).

"What is it?" I asked.

"If you don't mind me asking, why exactly are you leaving Valinor? No one's left in years."

"I'm going to find my fiancé," I said.

"Who's your fiancé?"

"Maglor son of Feanor."

The captain stepped back a pace, looking shocked. "Oh. So _you're_ Anduril. I've heard of you."

Even this kid had heard of me? Good Gods. This was getting ridiculous.

"Yes, I'm Anduril."

"So you're going to find Maglor." The captain paused for a moment. "Begging your pardon, Miss, but most people wouldn't. Try to help a Son of Feanor, I mean. You're awfully loyal."

"Thank you," I said, smiling.

He nodded. "There aren't a lot of dependable people left in this world, as far as I've seen."

I thought back to Anaire, still perfectly happy after she'd lost her husband and children, and to the rest of the people in Tirion, who disowned the Exiles as soon as they left, even though they'd been friends with them before. "You're probably right."

For the record, I don't like sea travel. I'd only been on a ship once before, when I was leaving Middle-Earth to go to Valinor, and I had been seasick the entire time. Now, although the destination was reversed, it wasn't any better. Most of my journey was spent below the deck throwing up in a bucket. At least the crew was nice— the captain had probably explained everything about me to them.

We spent four or five months sailing, I'm not really sure which. Eventually I lost track of time. This wasn't uncommon for sea voyages, according to the crew. Day and night seemed to blur together and I completely forgot which was which. It didn't matter anyway. All I cared about was getting somewhere.

So four or five months passed, and finally we reached land, "Land" being a port somewhere in the north. There was a small group of people waiting to get on board when we arrived.

"I hope you find what you're looking for, Miss Anduril," said the captain before I left.

"I hope you do, too," I said for no apparent reason. Turning away, I picked up my bag and pushed my way through the crowd. Behind me was the ocean and everything I'd left behind. In front of me was a wilderness that I hadn't seen in centuries, somewhere in which my fiancé was living. I hoped.

My search was on.


	14. Mrs Maglor Feanorian

**Chapter 14: Mrs. Maglor Feanorian**

And a long search it was. How long, exactly, I couldn't tell you— as was the case with my sea voyage, I lost count of the days. For almost a year I wandered the coast, hoping to see Maglor. I asked everyone I came across if they'd seen him, but no one had. In time I gave up most of my hope. He'd probably died, like the majority of people in Valinor thought.

By now it was mid-December. Along the shoreline it wasn't cold, but it wasn't warm either, and I shivered as I made my way south, my hair tangling in the wind. I knew I was a mess; over the past months I hadn't been paying much attention to my appearance. My clothes were torn, my sandals were wearing down, and I had awful circles under my eyes. Not that I cared. Only one thing mattered to me anymore.

So there I was, wandering along the beach, being pessimistic, when I heard someone singing. Whoever it was, they were behind a sand dune, and they had the most beautiful voice I'd ever heard…it was almost familiar. Quickly, I ran over to see who it was, or to find out if I was imagining things.

I wasn't imagining things. There was someone sitting by the beach at the bottom of the dune, someone dressed completely in black, with wavy, dark auburn hair. Silently, I slid down the side of the dune to get a closer look.

Oh. My. Gosh.

It was Maglor.

Grinning, I walked up behind him. "So THERE you are. I've been looking all over for you!"

He abruptly stopped singing and turned to me, looking shocked. Valar, had he changed— almost as disheveled as me, loads thinner that he had been, and all in all a total mess— but he was still Maglor, and I was as much in love with him as ever.

"Anduril?" he whispered. "This had better not be a dream."

"Oh, believe me, it isn't," I replied. "As far as I know, you can't get seasick in dreams." Having said this, I kissed him for a long, long time.

After a few minutes, Maglor pulled away from me. "But I don't understand. How did you get here?"

"Easy. I found out there was a ship heading to Middle-Earth, got on it, and came here. That was almost a month ago. I've been looking for you ever since."

"So that's what you meant about being seasick." He frowned. "You left Valinor to look for me? After you had it so good there?"

I snorted. "GOOD? Puh-leaze. I'm very fond of your mother, but other than that I was miserable. Marvana made my life hell."

"Oh, yeah, Marvana," laughed Maglor. "What was that girl's problem?"

"She had a crush on you, and you never noticed her," I said. "By the way, what ever happened to Delroch?"

"He died a few years ago. It was really too bad. You know, he and I never got along very well, but I always secretly liked him. He was interesting."

"I liked him, too." I took a deep breath. "I heard about…you know…"

"My brothers?"

"Yes, and I'm SO SO sorry. It's absolutely awful."

"Thanks, but, you know, I'm kind of thinking they deserved what they got." He looked at the ground.

"Don't say that! They're your brothers!"

"Yes, and I love them, but that doesn't mean they were smart. I tried to get them to see sense, I really did, but it's like they went totally insane," said Maglor, and smiled grimly. "And look how it turned out. I'm the only one who didn't care about the Silmarils, and now I'm the only one left alive. Talk about ironic."

"Let's talk about something else," I said. "Remember how you promised that next time you saw me, we could get married?"

"How are we going to do that? We're the only ones here."

"That doesn't matter, I don't think." I stood up and pulled him to his feet. "I, Anduril daughter of no one, with Iluvatar as my witness, take you, Maglor son of Feanor, to be my husband, to whom I will be faithful for the rest of eternity." Finishing, I tossed my hair and nodded to Maglor. "Now, you say the same thing, except switch the names."

Maglor did so, obviously trying not to snigger throughout the entire speech.

"There. We're married," I said, feeling very pleased.

"That was the most pathetic wedding ceremony I've ever seen," said Maglor.

I laughed. "Who cares? In the eyes of Iluvatar it's valid."

"I suppose you're right," Maglor admitted. "Gods, I wish Mom was here to see this. I miss her awfully."

"You might see her again someday," I said.

"But I'm not allowed back in Valinor, and she'd NEVER come here, not in a million years. It's hopeless."

"Nothing is hopeless," I said. "I should think you'd have figured that out by now."

Maglor smiled and kissed me, and for a moment none of this pain and death had ever happened, and we were young and fearless again.

**END**


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